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Apache - ORIGIN OF THE ANIMALS
When the Apaches emerged from
the under-world, Un-go'-ya-y�n-ni, they traveled southward on foot for
four days. They had no other food than the seeds of the two plants,
k'atl'-tai-�, and k'atl'-tai-il-tsu-y�, from which they made a sort of
flour by grinding between stones. When they camped for the fourth time,
one of the tipis, called ka-ge-g�n-has-ka-�n-de-y�, stood somewhat apart
from the others. While the owner and his wife were absent from this lodge,
a Raven brought a bow and a quiver of arrows, and hung them upon the lodge
poles. The children within took down the quiver, and found some meat in
it; they ate this, and at once became very fat. When the mother returned,
she saw the grease on the hands and cheeks of the children, and was told
how the it-tsil'-te had been obtained. The woman hastened to her husband
with the tale. Marveling at the appearance of the children, the people
gathered to await the reappearance of the Raven which subsisted upon such
remarkable food. !
When the Raven found the it-tsil'-te had been stolen
from the quiver, he flew away toward the eastward; his destination was a
mountain just beyond the range of vision of the Indians. A bat, however,
followed the flight of the Raven, and informed them where the Raven had
alighted. That night, a council of the whole tribe was held, and it was
decided that they should go to the home of the Raven, and try to obtain
from him the food which had wrought such a miraculous change in those who
had partaken of it. At the end of four days they came to a place where a
large number of logs were lying in irregular heaps. Many ravens were seen,
but they avoided the Indians, and no information could be obtained from
them. At one point they discovered a great circle of ashes where the
ravens were accustomed to cook their meals. Again a council was held, and
they talked over the problem of how to spy upon the ravens, and learn
whence they obtained the precious animal food. That night the
medic!
ine-men transformed a boy into a puppy, and concealed him in the
bushes near the camp. After the Indians had departed, next morning the
ravens came, as is there habit, to examine the abandoned camp. One of the
young ravens found the puppy, and was so pleased with it that he
exclaimed: "Ci-ch�n-ni-ja-ta" ("This shall be my puppy"). When he carried
it home his parents told him to throw it away. He begged permission to
keep it, but agreed to give it up if the puppy winked when a splinter of
burning wood was waved before its eyes. As the puppy possessed much more
than canine intelligence, it stared during the test without the quiver of
an eyelid. So the young raven won consent to keep the puppy, which he
placed under his own blanket, where it remained until evening. At sunset
the puppy peeped from his cover, and saw an old raven brush aside the
ashes of the fireplace, and take up a large flat stone which disclosed an
opening beneath ; through this he disappeared, but arose again!
with a
buffalo, which was killed and eaten by the ravens.
For four days
the puppy remained at the camp of the ravens, and each evening he saw a
buffalo brought up from the depths and devoured. Satisfied that he had
discovered the source from which the ravens derived their food, the puppy
resumed the form of a boy on the morning of the fifth day, and, with a
white eagle feather in one hand and a black one in the other, descended
through the opening beneath the fireplace, as he had seen the ravens do.
In the under-world in which he found himself he saw four buffaloes. He
placed the white eagle-feather in the mouth of the nearest Buffalo, and
commanded it to follow him, but the Buffalo told him to go on to the last
of the four and take it. This the boy tried to do, but the fourth Buffalo
sent him back to the first, in whose mouth the boy again thrust the
feather, declaring it to be the king of animals. He then returned to the
world above, followed by all the animals at present upon the surface of
the earth, except those specially crea!
ted later, such, for example,
as the horse and aquatic animals. As the large herd of animals passed
through the hole, one of the ravens awoke, and hastened to clap down the
stone covering the opening, but he was too late to prevent their escape.
Seeing that they had passed from his control into that of man, he
exclaimed, " When you kill any of these animals you must at least leave
their eyes for me."
Attended by the troop of beasts of many
species, the boy followed the track made by the departing Apaches. On the
site of their first camp he found a firestick or poker, gos-se-na'-it-tsi,
of which he inquired, "When did my people leave here?" "Three days ago"
was the reply. At the next camping-place was an abandoned ladder,
has'-ai-�, of which he asked, "When did my people leave here?" "Two days
ago," replied the ladder. Continuing his journey the boy soon reached the
third camping-place, where he questioned a second firestick, and learned
that the people had been gone but one day. At the fourth camp another
ladder answered his question, with the news that the Indians had left
there that morning. That evening he overtook them and entered the camp,
the herd of animals following him like a flock of sheep. One old woman who
lived in a brush lodge became vexed at the deer which ate the covering of
her rude shelter. Snatching up a stick from the fire, she struck the deer
over th!
e nose, to which the white ashes adhered, causing the white
mark which we see on the nose of that animal at present time. "Hereafter
you shall avoid mankind; your nose tell you when you are near them," said
she. Thus terminated the brief period of harmony between man and the
beast: they left the camp at once, going farther each day, until on the
fourth they disappeared from sight. That night the Apaches prayed for the
return of the animals, that they might use them for food, and that is why
animals approach nearer the camps now at night than at any other time.
They never come very close, because the old woman told them to be guided
by their noses and avoid the Indians.
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